Let's open our Bibles back to
Psalm 84. Psalm 84. I want to say this just in opening.
I'm very thankful for the means and
the ability to listen to messages at home. Not just at home, sometimes while
working or traveling. It's a blessing to be able to
listen to those messages. It amazes me that like with sermon
audio and some of these other formats, I mean, we can listen
to messages here and people can literally listen
to them, I mean, around the globe. It's just fascinating. And I also know that there are
many that are unable to get out of their homes. Probably for
some, it's the only means they have to listen to a gospel message. But with that said, I think it's worth a word of
caution with regard to convenience. It's not a substitute for gathering
together publicly to worship the Lord, to gather together
in His house. Listen to a few of these scriptures.
Psalm 34.3 says this, let us magnify the Lord. It doesn't
just stop there. Let us magnify the Lord together. Together, we come in this house
together to worship him. Isaiah said this, I was glad
when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Hebrews 10.25 says, forsake not
the assembling of yourselves together. just the importance
of gathering together. And there's many scripture, many
scripture in God's word about public worship. Meeting together,
worshiping together. And don't go away thinking I'm
trying to discourage anyone from individual study or devotion. I just want to draw attention
to the importance of public worship and what a blessing and privilege
that is for God's people. A week or so ago, I can't remember,
but our pastor read from this Psalm, Psalm 84. And the Lord
willing, that'll serve as our text here this evening. And I
believe it deals much with what goes on in his house. the Lord's house. It's divided
up into, I guess you could divide it up into a number of ways,
but I see three of them here. Verse one through four deals
with the blessing of those who reside in his house. Verse five, the blessing of those
who visit his house. And then verse nine through the
end of the chapter points to the master. of the house, whose
house it is. So let's begin with just a Bible
study here this evening on this passage of scripture. Verse one
says, how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. How amiable,
how lovely, how lovely are thy tabernacles. Now, the tabernacles
were erected by Moses in the wilderness by the command of
God. And you know, it wasn't the outside of the tabernacle
that was beautiful. I've seen different images. I
mean, it literally just looks like a bunch of sheets hanging
up on the outside. The beauty, rather, was what
was inside the tabernacle, or what was represented inside the
tabernacle. That's where you would find those
vessels of fine gold. You would find those priests
dressed in their apparel, the high priest dressed in his apparel,
the high priest which represents our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the great, high priest in the temple, inside the temple. That's where the true beauty
was. Again, that high priest pictured
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the high priest, the one mediator,
that one who makes atonement and intercession, and by his
work, makes our presence a possibility. This is where the sacrifice was
slain. That sacrifice was slain and
offered up unto the Lord. Aaron was to select two goats
for a sin offering, one for a burnt offering. That ram was to be
offered as an atonement or sacrifice for the sins of the people, for
himself and for his house, and he was to cast Lots upon these
goats, two goats. One would be a sin offering on
the mercy seat and the other would serve as a scapegoat. This is in the temple. Those would mean nothing if they
did not point to the Lord Jesus Christ. He who is both the scapegoat
on whom God laid our sins and also our sin offering. The Lord
Jesus Christ who died for us, he was our sin offering. By the
sacrifice itself, we're taught about the nature of sin. We're taught about the strictness
of God's justice. Again, that sacrifice pointed
to the Lord Jesus Christ. The nature of sin, the wages
of sin is death. that there must be death, there
must be blood shed, atonement has to be made. And Aaron would
sprinkle that mercy seat with the blood of the sin offering,
and he'd make atonement for the sins of the people. Our Lord
Jesus Christ. And again, those things just
picture our Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, He died. He entered into the presence
of God. with his own blood. Man offered nothing. Man brought
nothing. He entered in once with his own
blood and made eternal reconciliation. Those offerings in that tabernacle
were made over and over and over again. Who knows how many gallons
of blood were shed? Our Lord made one sacrifice for
sin. Those priests, again, they offered
sacrifices for sin continually. Why is that? Because we sin continually. And the blood of bulls and goats
could never, they offered continually, that could never take away sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ offered
one sacrifice for sin, having obtained eternal redemption for
his people. Scripture says this, that he
by himself purged our sins. Can you see the beauty of that? Then what he said, behold, how
amiable, how amiable are thy tabernacles, how beautiful are
thy tabernacles. Oh, how beautiful the thought
that our sins are put away, that the Lord Jesus Christ has put
away the sins of his people. I'm thankful that we keep this
place looking nice. You know, the grass is mowed
and looks really nice. It's manicured and keep the building
painted. But what's truly is important
is what's inside this building. It's what's preached inside this
building. It's here, it's in this place
where the Lord Jesus Christ is preached. That can't be said
of every building in this town, but it can be said of this place.
It's where his gospel is preached. It's where his ordinances are
administered. You know, we've been so fortunate
in just these last few months to witness the baptism of so
many of our young ones, publicly confessing the Lord Jesus Christ. It's here where we partake of
the Lord's table, where we remember our Lord and Savior. It's in this place that we gather
and we sing songs of love and grace. We don't come in here
to be entertained. We come here to worship, to worship
the Lord. And you know, it's even more
lovely when the Lord is pleased to grant us His presence, when
He's pleased to meet with His people. He said that. He said that. He said, where
two or three are gathered in my name, there will I be in the
midst of them. Isn't that beautiful? To think
that the Lord would be pleased to meet with his people. Well,
verse two of Psalm 84. Let's read. Oh, my soul longeth,
yea, even faintest for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my
flesh crieth out for the living God. This isn't just a cry from
the mouth, rather it's a cry from the heart. You know the
difference, don't you? You've experienced that. Sometimes
we just talk from the mouth, but then there's other times
what we're saying, it comes from the heart, and that's evident,
isn't it? Listen, to be among God's people. What a blessing, what a privilege
that is to gather among His people to worship our Lord and Savior. Again, not a social gathering,
but a worship service, a place to come and hear of God's mercy
and grace to sinners. David wrote this in Psalm 122,
1. He said, I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Well,
verse three, yea, the sparrow hath found an house and the swallow
a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine
altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, And my God, David envied the sparrow, a worthless
bird, yet David was envious of that sparrow because it never
had to leave God's house. Aren't there times when we notice
this? There's times we gather together
and we hear God's word preached, and it's like nobody wants to
leave the building. Nobody wants to go back out into
the world. David said that sparrow has the
luxury that it never has to leave God's tabernacle, a place of
rest. That's what we find in God's
word, isn't it? A place of rest, a place of security,
a shelter. A shelter from the storm. Listen,
don't lose this. Not just for that sparrow, but
for her young. You see that? Her young, her
little ones. I pray this wouldn't just be,
I mean, I'm thankful. I'm thankful the Lord's given
us I'm thankful that he's given us faith in the belief, but oh,
how I pray. And I know it's your prayer too,
that it'd be for our little ones too, that he would be, that he'd
be merciful to our little ones, that this would be a place that
we would bring, continually bring our little ones. In Mark chapter
10, you can turn there if you want to, Mark 10, Mark chapter 10, verse 13. And they brought young children
to him, that he should touch him. And his disciples rebuked
those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was
much displeased. And he said unto them, listen
to what he said, suffer the little children to come unto me and
forbid them not. For if such is the kingdom of
God, verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. The birds and their young were
not restrained from entering into the tabernacle. And David
finished this verse with this. He said, my king and my God. Spurgeon says, David lays hold
with both hands. I thought that was good, like
Jacob of old. They're like, I'm not gonna let
you go. I'm not gonna let you go till you bless me. Well, verse
four, back to our text, Psalm 84. Blessed are they that dwell
in thy house, they will be still praising thee. He that is worthy of all praise. He that is worthy of all adoration, we sing this song while the ages
roll, I'll keep on praising him. And my voice will never tire
or grow old, and my song shall ever be, praise the lamb who
died for me, and I'll sing it while the ages shall roll. In this verse, this verse four,
If you look at the end of it, there's that word selah. We don't
typically say that when we're reading it, but it's there for
a purpose, and it means to pause and consider what we just read
as a hymn, to pause and consider what we've just read. pause and consider dwelling with
and praising Him throughout all eternity. We could spend a good
bit of time just pausing and considering that, couldn't we? We don't do that too often. Sometimes
we just keep on moving, don't we? Stop and consider what's
being said. Well, let's move on. Verse five
through eight, the blessings of those who visit. Verse five,
blessed is the man whose strength is in thee and whose heart are
the ways of them. Now I ask you, where is your
strength? Where is your strength? Is it
in yourself? Is it in this arm of flesh that
we rush to so often? Or is it in Him? Is it in Almighty
God? What we read there, blessed is
the man whose strength is in thee, in the Lord. Man is blessed when his strength,
not himself, but in Almighty God. Think about this, strength
to believe, strength to obey, strength to endure heartache
and trial. Read on, verse six, who passing
through the valley of Bacchae, make it a well. The rain also
filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength,
every one of them in Zion, appeareth before God. That valley of Bacchae,
that's interpreted a valley of tears or a valley of weeping. The believer finds himself in
that valley often. No. Times of weakness, times of temptation,
times of affliction, But we're not to despair, we're not to
grow weary, for the Lord continually provides for his people. His
rain filleth the pools. We don't need to go out and dig
new wells, do we? That's our answer. We'll fix
this. We'll take care of this. We'll go siphon some off of our
neighbor or redirect. No, the Lord filleth his pools. I was thinking about water. What
are some things water? Water cools. Water cleanses. Water refreshes. David wrote this. Weeping may
endure for the night. but that's temporary and joy,
joy coming in the morning. He says they go from strength
to strength. Every one of them appeareth before
God. Every one of his sheep will appear
in glory. God's word's clear on that. And
there we'll behold 1 Corinthians 13, let me just read
this to you. Now we see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face. Then Paul said, I shall know
even as I am known. Think about it. We're going to
know Him. That says we're going to know Him just as He knows
us. That's beyond my comprehension.
Given it wouldn't take a lot, but that is beyond human comprehension. Think about how intimately God
knows His people. The very hairs of our head are
numbered. He knows them all. Well, let's
read on. Verse 8 of our text. O Lord God
of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob. The Lord of hosts. He's almighty in power. He refers to him as the God of
Jacob, the covenant God, infinite in
mercy and goodness to his people. And listen to his cry, hear my
prayer, hear my prayer. David wrote in Psalm 34, 12,
this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. The Lord
hears the cry of His people. And not only did He hear him,
David said the Lord heard him and saved him out of not just
one or two troubles, all. saved him out of all his troubles. The Lord of hosts, the God of
Jacob, hears the prayer, hears the cry of his people. Look again at the end of that
verse, verse eight, Selah. Pause. Pause and consider. Pause and consider that. The
Lord hears the cry. The Lord hears the prayer of
his people. Well, last point here, look at
beginning with verse nine. Here's the master of the house.
Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. This is the believer's prayer,
that the Lord would look on his anointed. Don't look on me. What's the
Lord going to see if He looks on me or looks on you? Death,
sin, condemnation. We could just go on and on, couldn't
we? That's not His cry though, is it? Look on your anointed. Look on His obedience. He obeyed the law. perfectly. Look on his suffering. Has any man suffered like our
Savior? Suffered like the Lord Jesus
Christ? Has he bore not only the wrath of man, but the wrath
of his Father, the wrath of Almighty God? Look on his death. He died in
the room instead of his people. He died as our substitute. Oh, look on his righteousness.
He obeyed the law perfectly, every jot and tittle. Look upon
him and save me from my sin. Ephesians 1 verse 6 says, to
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. That's all our hope. He is all
our hope. He is all our righteousness. Look on him. Look upon thine
anointed. I couldn't find the writer of
this song, but I remember the chorus. When he sees me, what's
he see? He sees the blood of the lamb. He sees me as worthy and not
as I am. He views me in garments as white
as the snow, for the Lamb of God is worthy, and he washed
me this I know. Look on the face of thine anointed."
Well, let's read on. David writes in verse 10, a day
in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Just one day. Just one. He doesn't say a week. He doesn't
say a month. He doesn't say a year. He doesn't
say a decade. He says one day. Just one day in thy court. And listen, that court From what
I read, that wasn't the tabernacle itself. That was just the enclosure
out around it. Just to be close to Him. Just
to be able to look and see the tabernacle. One day in thy courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else. The best this world has
to offer pales in comparison. to him. And then he says, I'd
rather be a doorkeeper, a lowly servant, just a servant. A couple of thoughts here by
the old writers, they said, I'd rather be a servant sitting,
just sitting at the threshold, just to be able to catch a glimpse. just to sit at the threshold,
basically like one of those old beggars laying at the gate of
the city. A servant. Is that a bad thing? Is it bad to be a servant? Oh,
Scripture says this, that the Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself
the form of a servant. He could have been anything.
wanted to be. He chose to take upon himself
the form of a servant. And some of the old writers say
this, that it can be interpreted as one tied to the door. And that's a reference to that
bond servant. We've heard that story, haven't
we? The story of the bond servant. Turn over there. We've got time.
Turn to Exodus 21. Exodus 21, you have verse one
of Exodus 21. These are the judgments which
thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an Hebrew servant
six years, he shall serve. And in the seventh, he shall
go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master hath given him
a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out by himself. Verse five, and if the servant
shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, my
children, I will not go out free. The master shall bring him unto
the judges, and he shall bring him to the door, or unto the
doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an
awe, and he shall serve him forever. He could go free. That's what
the law says. He can go free. But all that he has, everything
this servant has, and he knows this, everything he has was given
him by his master. Everything. Listen to what he
says. I love my master. I love my wife. I love my children. Don't send me away. Make me a
bond servant. Make me a willing, obedient servant. What did David say here? I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. Let's
read on, Psalm 84, verse 11. For the Lord God is a sun and
shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly. You know, we get warmth from
the sun. We get light from the sun. It reveals things that we can't
see in the dark. That's just the opposite of darkness,
isn't it? Light is the opposite. That's a pretty simple statement,
isn't it? Light is the opposite of darkness. Christ, scripture says this,
Christ is my light and my life. And then he references a shield.
What's a shield do? A shield protects a man from
the enemy. He's my son and he's my shield. And then we read this, the Lord
will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. Grace and glory. Both of them
in due time. Both of them in full measure
and both with absolute certainty and no question about it. He's
gonna give grace and glory. Hebrews 4.16 says, let us therefore
come boldly, where? To the throne of grace. For what
purpose? That we might obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Grace. Grace. Where sin abounded, what
happened? Grace did much more abound. Grace and glory. sanctifying
grace, justifying grace, pardoning grace, adopting grace, preserving
grace, and even dying grace for his people. He says, no good
thing will he withhold to them that walk uprightly, those who
walk by faith, those who rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
verse 12, Psalm 84, O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man that
trusted in thee. Trust Him. Trust Him. Trust Him for all things. Trust
Him at all times. Trust Him in all circumstances. We read this, trust in the Lord
with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding,
in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path."
All the blessings of those who reside in his house, the blessings
of those who visit his house, and oh, what glory in the master,
the master of the house. May he continually Bless us as we gather together
in his house. May he continually bless us with
a desire to gather together in his house. Oh, how I pray that
he would continually bless us with his presence, that he'd
grant us his presence in this house. All right, Sean.